An intersting depth signing for the Penguins today, who picked up 6-foot-9, 250-pound defenseman Lane Manson.

I don’t think he can crack the AHL roster to start the season, but he’s huge and has 48 fights over the last three seasons, including tilts with some of the ECHL’s top heavyweights. He was considered a pretty decent prospect when Atlanta drafted him in the fourth round in 2002, but he never got out of the Coast under the Thrashers’ watch. A change of scenery is definitely in order. He’s only 23. Maybe there’s some upside there.

There’s three new names on that list. The Cuthbert kid sounds like an intriguing prospect. This article from the Lindsay Post (I went to high school with a girl named Lindsay Post) says he’ll be back in juniors for another season, but Sault Ste. Marie coach Craig Hartsburg calls him one of the best stay-at-home defensemen in the OHL. Caria just turned 19, so he’ll be back in juniors too, but he’s a good prospect as well, an OHL all-star who scored 30 goals for St. Mike’s last season. Henderson also scored 30 goals last year for Kitchener. He’s 20 now, so he’s probably closer to turning pro.

I’ve received a couple emails calling me crazy for suggesting Mike Weaver will start the year in the NHL and Kris Letang won’t.

First of all, yes, I realize it’s a little bit of an offbeat prediction. Second, here are my two reasons for making that prediction.

1. In the last six or seven years, I’ve seen several top prospects who were pencilled into the NHL by everyone get unexpectedly sent to the minors (Kraft, Beech, Whitney, Welch, Fleury, Talbot to name six off the top of my head). I realize all of those except Talbot were from a different regime that sometimes made those decisions to save money, but last year, I don’t think many people expected Edmonton to send down Marc-Antoine Pouliot and they did. Nashville started Alexander Radulov in the minors last season too. My point? NHL execs generally prefer to err on the side of leaving a prospect in the minors too long than rushing him to the NHL too soon.

(By the way, can anyone produce a quote where Ray Shero says an NHL job is Letang’s to lose? I’m not being a jerk. I just can’t find one. I only find suggestions that the Penguins are rooting for Letang to win an NHL job in camp. Maybe I’m parsing, but I think there’ a significant difference between the two.)

2. I don’t think Mike Weaver is the next Micki DuPont. I think he’s closer to the next Mark Eaton. Aside from a conditioning stint he did in Manchester last year, Weaver hasn’t been in the minors since the lockout. Second, look at his 06-07 numbers with the Kings compared to Eaton’s 05-06 numbers with Nashville. They aren’t really that different.

And by the way, if you look at the Penguins Headlines on the right side of this page, don’t be fooled. Nothing happened to David Koci’s house. It’s a completely different story. Believe me. Completely different.

All right, LGP, I’ll take a stab at figuring out how the depth chart will look on defense. Last year, the Penguins kept eight D to start the year, but Brooks Orpik and Eric Cairns were hurt.

Here’s the list, by the way:Eaton-GoncharMelichar-WhitneyScuderi-LetangIR: Orpik-Cairns

If nobody gets hurt, my guess to start this year is:PITTSBURGHEaton-GoncharWhitney-OrpikSydor-Weaverextra: ScuderiWBSNasreddine-LetangGoligoski-LannonArdelan-Engellandextra: D’Aversa

The signing of Nasreddine and Weaver leads me to believe that the Penguins want to start Letang in the minors. I see Ben Lovejoy and Paul Bissonnette as the odd men out at the AHL level. But keep in mind, it’s not even September yet and a team would be incredibly fortunate to go through training camp and exhibition games without having a single defenseman get hurt. (In other words, don’t hold me to this.)

On the training camp front, I’ve had several people email me looking for a schedule. Sorry, can’t help with that. I’d like one myself. Here’s what we know for sure. There’s a rookie tournament in Kitchener, Ontario from Sept. 7-10 and Pittsburgh plays exhbition games in Montreal on Sept. 17-18. So I would guess there would be NHL camp in Pittsburgh in between those two trips and AHL camp in Wilkes-Barre starting around the same time as the Montreal trip. But that’s just me guessing.

To roy36, your description of Reed Low being a thorn in the side of the Penguins last season is an accurate one. He was one of the AHL’s toughest customers last year without a doubt. As far as I know, he’s still on the free agent market. Pete Vandermeer, however, is not.

Incidentally, Ty Conklin has two career fights as a pro (vs. Kay Whitmore and Pasi Nurminen).

On the Tibbetts front, I don’t know, 104pen, if Brendan Walsh was involved in the arrest, but I seem to recall he was a passenger when Tibbetts was caught going 100 on I-84 through Pike and Lackawanna Counties in 2002.

Finally, I hate to get into this topic again after all these years, but I feel compelled to address it because Barry said in the comment section that he thought Tibbetts “got a raw deal as a kid.” According to media reports at the time, his indiscretion in 1992 was not a simple case of a 17-year-old boyfriend and a 15-year-old girlfriend. The judge called the crime brutal and the Boston Herald editorialized that the punishment Tibbetts received — probation and a suspended sentence — was not harsh enough. This blog does a pretty good job of summing up the whole ordeal.

Again, I really don’t want to dredge up an old issue, but I think it’s important to try to piece together as much information as possible before forming an opinion on a sensitive matter such as this.

Long-time Penguins prospect Bobby Goepfert appears to be signing with Anaheim. Here’s a link from the St. Cloud paper. Here’s the money quote, regarding his negotiations or lack thereof with the Penguins.

“I realized something through this process. They’re not handing out pro contracts. Nobody’s dusting off a crease with my name on it. There’s a lot of competition for jobs and I’ve got to go out and prove wrong a bunch of people who think I can’t do it again. But that’s OK. It was like a bucket of cold water thrown on me, but now I feel like I’ve got that chip on my shoulder again to prove people wrong, you know?”

We won’t know for years whether the Penguins made a mistake by letting this kid walk or not. The decision will be judged by comparing the careers of Goepfert and John Curry from BU, whom the Penguins signed instead. Frankly, I don’t think it will ever become a front-burner debate because I think Dave Brown is an excellent prospect, but again, time will tell on that as well.

Inspired by roy36cairns in the comment section, here’s a toughness preview of the East Division. And to answer the original question, while I think the Penguins will probably have some training camp invitees with some toughness, I don’t see any need to sign anyone else. This isn’t the Federal League. The Penguins have two or three heavyweights. That’s more than enough to handle virtually any situation a rivalry game might present.

ALBANYToughness grade: CTrevor Gillies is a legit heavyweight and Wade Brookbank’s resume is solid, so on paper, they look set. But for some reason, the Rats have never really seemed to unleash their tough guys in recent years. So I bumped them down from a B because of that.

BINGHAMTONToughness grade: C+If the B-Sens keep recently signed Jeremy Yablonski on the roster and actually play him, they get a B. Yablonski’s a killer. Matt Carkner will throw down when he has to and Danny Bois is a rat.

BRIDGEPORTToughness grade: AHow about this for a turnaround in the toughness department? Kip Brennan is big and eager. Darryl Bootland tends to wreak havoc. Drew Fata is a decent fighter. Tim Jackman and Matthew Spiller are big, physical players. If Pascal Morency makes the team, look out.

HERSHEYToughness grade: DIf Chris McAllister is actually willing, at an advanced age with an injury history, to be a everyday heavyweight, then the grade goes up. But I don’t see that happening. Grant McNeill, Malcolm MacMillan and Tom Maxwell have to make the team first. Dean Arsene is a stand-up guy.

NORFOLKToughness grade: DWhere have you gone, David Koci and Reed Low? Brandon Elliott is a big kid who could graduate up from the ECHL. Mike Egener and Jay Leach are big and tough, I guess.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTONToughness grade: AAaron Boogaard is really eager to make a name for himself. Dennis Bonvie is wily. Deryk Engelland is a top light heavyweight.

To Ben, the Bonds video is just another example of an organzation that likes to dump on its fans dumping on its fans.

To Burgh thing, I assume the Bobblegloves is a doll where the gloves, rather than the head, bobble. Sounds interesting, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Here’s my taste in collectibles, if anyone cares. On my desk right now, I have a John Cappelletti bobblehead, Chuck Tanner and Phil Garner figurines. a small Christmas tree with Penn State ornaments, a functioning red flashing goal light and a Super Bowl XL edition Terrible Towel. On the wall in front of me are pictures of Bob Hope sinking a putt, Elmer Dessens on the day he signed with Arizona, Todd Bertuzzi spearing Bryan McCabe in the man area and a calendar with pitcures of killer whales. (Orca!)

An interesting signing for the Penguins today. The first inclination is to say Mike Weaver’s a good pick-up for minor league depth. I’m not so sure about that. I sort of see him as a potential Mark Eaton, a diamond in the rough type. After all, he hasn’t been in the minors (beyond a two-week conditioning stint last season) since the lockout and he was third among Kings defensemen in shorthanded time on ice per game.

Now, let’s be reasonable about this. He did sign a two-way deal. Time at WBS is still a good bet. But his signing definitely puts the heat on Kris Letang to perform well in camp. His NHL job isn’t as secure as it was 48 hours ago.

To roy36, I just picked Weaver out of a hat as a potential Penguins target because he was cheap (perhaps undervalued) and right handed. But thanks for the compliments.

To Zuri, KJ was all over that arbitration question. I couldn’t have said it any better.

To LGP, the promo schedule is out, if you haven’t seen it. Mouse pad, camo hat, golf umbrella, Bonvie Bobblegloves. Sounds like a good list. And you guys had a good suggestion about the local bands writing a theme song too. You should pass it along to the team.

To Jonny, Beech’s deal with Columbus is a two-way, so his minor league days might not be quite over just yet. We could see him in a Crunch jersey, although the Blue Jackets aren’t the deepest team in the world.

A couple of schedule notes before I go.– This schedule will help build rivalries in a big way. Three in a row against Philly the second week of the season. Seven against a bulked-up Bridgeport team from Feb. 1 to April 9. Five with rival Binghamton from Oct. 27 to Nov. 23. Six with Norfolk from Dec. 31 to Feb. 13.– Back-to-back three-game roadies in January (Norfolk-Norfolk-Hershey and Lowell-Providence-Manchester) won’t be easy.– Ten of the last 13 at home makes a strong finish possible.– Dec. 15 at Glens Falls should be fun. I’m looking forward to a potential trip to a classic, old school AHL barn.– Feb. 2 at home against Norfolk is a Saturday 3:05 p.m. start. The team wants to try a Saturday afternoon game to see if fans like it. I think its fine, but I think an 11 a.m. game at Philly on Nov. 15 is not cool at all. Someone’s going to pay for that one.

It’s not surprising that Dennis Bonvie said today that he’ll retire after this season. How many guys play his role for 15 year? You could count them on one mangled, bloody hand. But it was a bit surprising to hear the words come out of his mouth — “This is it” — because that’s something he’s never said before.

Anyway, as Pensavage and LGP alluded to in the comments section, it will set off a season-long PR blitz, which should be fun. Team prez Rich Hixon said they’re working on some promotions. I would think a T-shirt that looks like a concert tour T-shirt would be in order. There is already some talk about a Killer B’s poster featuring Bonvie and Boogaard. Fun stuff like that.

Hixon also said the theme for this season is “Penguins Rock.” If they’re looking for a theme song, I woul suggest the theme to Fraggle Rock, rather than that Drew Carey “Cleveland Rocks” garbage, because Cleveland most certainly doesn’t rock.

I brought up the subject of retiring No. 27 or starting a team hall of fame with Bonvie as the centerpiece. The prevailing thought seems to be that honors like that will be on the docket next season, when the team celebrates its 10th anniversary.

If they’re going to start retiring numbers, I’d only retire 27. If there’s a hall of fame, for honoring but not retiring, I think the first class should include 27, 26, 29 and 40. Just my opinion, of course.

A winner of first-place honors in the blogging category of the 2012 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors awards, Penguins Insider was created to give local hockey fans an interactive, in-depth way to follow the team they so passionately support. The blog's author, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie, has been covering the team since its inception in 1999. Contact him at jbombulie@aol.com

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